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New mums missing out on vital breastfeeding information

'More information on breast pumps needed', the majority of mums tell us

More than half of new mums aren’t getting the advice they need to help them keep up breastfeeding.

Of the 1,008 mums we surveyed in spring 2018, 54% told us that they would have welcomed more advice on how to use a breast pump.

Some 49% of those we spoke to decided to use a breast pump at the same time as breastfeeding and 78% wanted to start expressing breast milk using a breast pump to get help with feeds.

We think breast pumps should be quick, simple to master and not too noisy. To find out which will make breastfeeding mums’ lives easier, every breast pump we review is put through a series of tough tests to judge for ease of use, power and comfort. We then combine our findings with the experiences of mums so we can name the Best breast pumps.

Top five breast pump tips

There are two main types of breast pump – manual and electric – and both have pros and cons. To help you choose, we’ve listed our top five tips for buying a breast pump:

1.Time Think about how much time you’ll have. Electric breast pumps tend to be faster than manual, so are a good option if you need something to fit around your busy life.

2.Frequency How often will you need to express milk? If you need to express milk frequently, an electric pump may be a better option, as manual pumps can be tiring to use after a while.

3.Budget Manual breast pumps cost as little as £15, whereas electric breast pumps are more expensive, at around £60 all the way up to £250 or more.

4.Travel Will you need to travel with the breast pump? If so, you’ll want to choose a model that’s compact, can be used discreetly if away from home and isn’t noisy. You can buy manual and electric breast pumps that are suitable for travel, and some even come with handy travel bags.

5.Sizing Make sure you get the right size breast shield, as the wrong one can be uncomfortable and make expressing milk difficult.

Read how to buy the best breast pump where you’ll find all the essential need-to-know before you buy, including the pros and cons of manual and electric breast pumps, plus how to make expressing milk easier.

Breast pumps reviews

Our top-scoring Best Buy breast pump gets a review score of 74% and is praised for being easy to assemble and use, plus it’s quiet, too. But the lowest-scoring model we’ve just reviewed got a score of just 54% and was criticised for being uncomfortable to pump.

Each breast pump we review is rated for how noisy it is, how comfortable it is and how easy it is to use.

Here’s the full list of the manual and electric breast pumps we’ve just tested. Follow the links to read each review: